The Efficacy of Thumb Cribs: Stop Your Child’s Thumb Sucking Habit

Children will suck their thumbs as infants and toddlers for the comfort and pleasure they derive from it. This is natural in early development, but once they are 5 or 6 years of age, the habit of thumb sucking can cause shifting of the teeth or jaw that could result in the need for expensive intervention later in life.

Advanced Orthodontic Center can curb this habit in your older child with a physical reminder in the form of a thumb crib. A small, temporary device that is glued to the upper jaw behind their teeth, a thumb crib reduces the contact with the roof of the mouth that gives a child that satisfying suction. Once the pleasant and comforting feeling of thumb sucking is reduced, even slightly, the child will no longer rely on this habit for self-soothing.

Thumb cribs are not painful, and act as a passive intervention to prevent further problems that may need more serious orthodontic treatment.

The best news is that in some cases, thumb cribs only take a day to break this habit. Your orthodontist will work with you to decide when it is safe to remove the thumb crib.

Contact Advanced Orthodontic Center for an appointment to see if your child should be fitted with a thumb crib today.